Beloved Newfoundland musician Mark Hiscock has died
Hiscock, 53, was a founding member of Shanneyganock
Mark Hiscock, a lifelong musician based out of St. John's, has died. He was 53 years old.
Hiscock was a mainstay of Newfoundland and Labrador's musical landscape, and was a founding member of the well-known folk band Shanneyganock — known for tunes steeped in the province's long history of storytelling.
The band, which was formed more than 30 years ago as a musical duo alongside Chris Andrews, developed a strong following and regularly performed across Canada.
"Mark was a very kind, gentle person. He liked everybody. He loved music," Andrews told CBC News Wednesday.
He was with Hiscock when he passed.
"He loved Newfoundland. He loved the accordion and music, and he loved his life and his family and his wife. You know, [he] was a happy man, and it's just so sad at this great stage of his life, he was taken away."
In a previous interview with CBC News, Hiscock said even after performing for decades, he wasn't tired of life on the stage.
"There's times when you think, 'Jeez, how did we manage to get this far?'" he said. "And then there's other times you look out, when you're playing in front of the crowd like tonight, and you go, 'This is the reason we've done it.' We do it for the fans."
According to the band, Hiscock was one of province's best button accordion players. Beyond that, he also had a solo career, released albums and worked with other artists.
Bud Davidge played with Shanneyganock and Hiscock for more than eight years. He says Hiscock was a performer through and through, whose impact will be felt and carried on by younger musicians he helped teach.
"His presence in the music industry in this province is right up there. Major. Big time. And he's going to be missed very, very much for a long, long time," he said.
"I'm going to miss him terribly. No question about it."
Shanneyganock is scheduled to perform at the 37th annual East Coast Music Awards on Thursday at the Mary Brown's Centre in St. John's.
In 2020, the band received a lifetime achievement award during an ECMA gala.
"We always used to laugh because we got a lifetime achievement award from the ECMAs, a lifetime achievement award from MusicNL. And we'd laugh and say, you know, 'What do you mean lifetime? We're only in our 50s, we got lots of music left to make," Andrews said.
"Now, I couldn't be more happier that he got to get those things and see the appreciation."
Andrews told CBC News the band still plans to play on Thursday night, and dedicate it to Hiscock.
"We know what he'd want, and we're going to play."
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With files from Carolyn Stokes